Films 2015 - India - Gulabi Gang

Gulabi Gang

Director: Nishtha Jain, 2012

Language: Hindi 96 minutes

SYNOPSIS: The badlands of Bundelkhand in central India is a place of desolation, dust and despair. Yet it is hope that we find as we follow the pink sari-clad women of Gulabi Gang, who use words as weapons—demanding their rights, submitting petitions and haranguing corrupt officials. These women travel long distances by cart and tractor, bus and train, to wrest justice for women and Dalits, undeterred by sneering policemen and condescending bureaucrats. Their leader, Sampat Pal, is a rough-and-tough woman with a commanding personality. Despite her lack of education, she has evolved her own brand of feminism and egalitarian politics. Her strength lies in her words. Constantly on the move, one day she may be found investigating the suspicious death of a young woman, the next protesting against a corrupt official. The gang encounters resistance everywhere: whole villages connive in protecting the perpetrators of violence, but as the film pulls us into the centre of these blazing conflicts, it uncovers a complex story—disturbing yet heartening—as the fiery women of the Gulabi Gang empower themselves and take up the fight against gender violence, caste oppression and widespread corruption.